Crown Heights reclaiming lost territory

A stretch of Central Brooklyn between Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway has been masquerading as Prospect Heights, when in reality it lies inside the border of Crown Heights, causing confusion among residents, DNAinfo reported.

To those familiar with the area, the move to pass off houses on streets such as Grand Avenue and Franklin Avenue as being located in the more affluent Prospect Heights was an effective way to attract househunters.  “[It was] an effort to re-brand the area to make it appealing to a certain group of people by replacing a name that evoked (at the time) “riot” and, to a lesser extend “urban poverty” with one that sounded like a hip, young spot,” local blogger Nick Juravich told DNAinfo.

But Crown Heights ongoing gentrification had made residents and brokers more comfortable with dropping the Prospect Heights label, Juravich said. “I think at this point, Crown Heights has gentrified to such a degree that it’s “safe” enough to use the name.”

Indeed, user-driven review service Yelp moved its own Crown Heights border several avenues west earlier this year, and took dozens of local businesses with it. “Neighborhoods are changing given what’s going on in real estate and everything else,” Yelp spokeswoman Kristen Whisenand told DNAinfo. “[Yelp’s] boundaries were just wrong before.”
[DNAinfo] –Hiten Samtani